Chapter 22 A Look of Sympathy


    Tracy didn’t want Franklin to worry.


    Luckily, she got two days off every month, and since she had already talked to her boss about it, she could go to the party the day after tomorrow.


    Tracy had agreed to go, and Liam had gotten his way, so he should’ve been satisfied.


    But seeing her walk off without even looking back left a strange heaviness in his chest.


    We took her things before for her own good. Now that she’s back, she hasn’t even asked for a single thing.


    Clearly, she’s still upset about being sent to the Angelic Etiquette Academy. She doesn’t even appreciate how much we’ve done for her.


    Feeling annoyed, Liam tracked down the housekeeper who handled most of the cleaning. “Where did you put Tracy’s stuff?”


    He figured he’d return it to her himself. Maybe it’d make her feel better. That way, she wouldn’t act up during the party and cause problems for Erin.


    While he was at it, he thought about giving her a phone too, so Erin wouldn’t always be scrambling to find


    her.


    The housekeeper answered, “Ms. Tracy’s things were all moved to the storage-room.”


    “Why would her stuff be there?” Liam snapped. “You all get paid a ton, and this is how you do your job?”


    His sudden outburst startled the housekeeper. She quickly exined, “Mr. Liam, you were the one who said seeing her things annoyed you. You told us to pack it all up and shove it in storage.”


    Liam blinked, thrown off. That … does sound like something I said.


    Irritated, he ran a hand through his hair. “Where is it now? Show me.”


    He wanted to personally give everything back. Maybe if he made the effort, she’d stop holding a grudge.


    He imagined himself scolding her a little too-telling her to stop acting so childish and stoppeting with Erin. But when he saw the box, he froze.


    It was barely two feet tall. “This is all that’s left? Did you steal the rest just because she’s been gone for two years?”


    The housekeeper bit back her anger. She thought about her five-figure monthly sry and chose to stay quiet. “Mr. Liam, we’ve worked for the Jackmans for a long time. None of us would do something like that.”


    She hesitated, then added, “It was Ms. Erin who said all that stuff reminded her of the tough years before she moved in. So Mrs. Jackman ordered us to toss everything. Only the useless stuff was kept.”


    All that remained were some old books and pictures-nothing of real value.


    Liam realized he’d spoken too fast: The staff at the Jackmans had been around forever and wouldn’t dare


    steal anything.


    Now that I think about it, I was there when Mom told them to throw it all out. It’s just been so long that I forgot.


    A wave of irritation bubbled up with nowhere to go. He gave the box a hard kick. “Get rid of this trash. It’s just clutter. Don’t leave it sitting around the house.”


    The Jackmans don’t need any of this stuff. If Tracy wants something, she can just go out and buy it. Isn’t spending money her specialty anyway?


    The housekeeper silently picked up the box and turned to leave. As soon as she turned her back, she rolled her eyes.


    They hadn’t even tell Ms. Tracy they wanted to toss her stuff. Good thing she’d looked inside the box earlier and hadn’t n on keeping anything. Otherwise, it would’ve been heartbreaking to find out like this. They hadn’t even told Ms. Tracy they wanted to toss her stuff.


    Just like that, everyst trace of Tracy’s past at the Jackman house was gone.


    Not that she cared.


    To her, those things hadn’t felt like hers in a long time. However they handled it was up to them.


    On the day of the party, Tracy woke up early as usual but didn’t hurry to leave.


    She knew the Jackmans didn’t really want her there, so she asked the butler what time they were heading out and nned to leave ten minutes before that.


    She didn’t want to ride with them, but the Sometime Hotel was far, and she hadn’t gotten paid yet. A cab wasn’t exactly in her budget.


    Plus, if she showed up by herself, Franklin might overthink things.


    But when she stepped outside, she found out they had already left 30 minutes earlier.


    The butler looked a little embarrassed. “Ms. Erin said she was worried the hotel arrangements might’ve been off, so she went early.”


    He had been nning to let Tracy know, but then Erin insisted it should be a surprise and told him not to say anything.


    Maybe she was just used to being brushed aside, but Tracy didn’t even feel hurt. She just worried Franklin might be concerned if she got therete.


    So, in the end, she asked the butler if she could borrow some money to take a cab to the hotel.


    As soon as she mentioned money, the butler froze.


    All the Jackman kids have their own cards. Every month, they get ten grand in spending money from thepany. Why would Ms. Tracy need to borrow cash?


    Then it clicked. Without saying anything, he took out the cash from his wallet and handed it to her with a look of sympathy.


    Tracy avoided his eyes, took the money, and promised to pay him back by the end of the month. Then she left to catch a cab.


    Sometime Hotel was a famous spot in Cloudville, and back then, Tracy always used the VIP entrance.